Re: Back to Re: Reorganization of this site and feedback

[Guest guest]

Hi Jeanetta,

Thanks for the comments on my score! Though I do not

believe posting my PTCB score was very revealing, as

the PTCB is merely Pass/Fail. There's simply not much

to hide. Also, the studying will never stop! It just

may not always be pharmacy related.

I have almost forgotten about the confidentiality

agreement when I took the test. Pretty similar to how

I have forgotten most of the questions on the exam

itself.

Your zeal does reveal itself in the way you handle

your e-mails, Jeanetta. I only wish my professors and

TA's had the same kind of attitude as you have towards

this group.

Thanks for the compliments, Jeanetta. While my

original intention was to go to pharmacy school, the

past two years pharmacy experience has revealed that I

really DO NOT want to spend the next 40+ years working

in retail pharmacy. The reason I finally took the

PTCB was to get an inpatient hospital job to see if I

would prefer hospital pharmacy. If worse comes to

worse, I will simply look elsewhere in the health care

field.

Considering the format of the PTCB is now

computerized, it is very easy to make almost every

single test unique. Even if there is a mistake in the

questions, they can simply be corrected and used again

the next day when the new versions of the tests are

downloaded. Assuming that every question is

categorized into one of three sections, in the same

vein as the PTCB scores are divided, they can randomly

select a third of the questions out of a pool of 500

questions for each category. By doing something as

simple as that, each test will be unique and unlikely

to be identical. However, I doubt this is the case.

I am trying to show that computerizing the tests does

make it far more likely that there are multiple

versions being given out each day due to the ease with

which it can be accomplished.

No problem Jeanetta, keep up the excellent work.

--- Jeanetta Mastron <rxjm2002@...> wrote:

> Dearest ,

>

> I think you did well. 800+ is a GREAT SCORE not just

> a good score, I had 5 yrs of experience and a 4 yr

> degree and got 859 ( 85 ... 6,8 or 9 I for get!)

> Any way you describe what I would expect for someone

> with your education and background and the amount of

> study you seem to have done/not done. So I would say

> you did GOOD at 717!

> My students usually get between 680 and 800. Most

> between 720 and 750 IF they have completed the two

> month on the job externship before they get the

> test. So you are not far off at all. Be PROUD I am

> for ya!

>

> Thank you for your post of your score. It is

> personal and you still did it and we are very

> pleased so that others can decide for themselves how

> easy it may be for them.

>

> I can only suggest MORE study!

>

> Regarding exact questions we can not discuss them

> any way. Just topics. I am sorry I was not asking

> you to post the exact drug names to see if they

> were hospital ones. What I was asking was for YOU to

> do a search yourself to see if they are in fact odd

> drugs because they were hospital and your

> experience is retail.

>

> I can not comment on any specifics that you have

> posted. Sorry to lead you to post them. I changed

> this post for ya here.

>

> You have been very kind with your compliments of the

> re-organization of the site. Now I need to do the

> link section and redo the automatic emails with the

> links to the folders and documents. As you may

> have read from a previous email or two that my

> rearrangement counter acted the use of the automatic

> email directions! But I am VERY glad to know it

> is much easier to navigate around and I trust your

> judgment.

>

> I do not know how to express the personal interest.

> But I can say it is a personal conviction I have a

> personal quest that I must search for the best

> educational material out there and put it all

> together for

> 1. the person studying who has little money to

> purchase study materials

> 2. the person who needs several examples in addition

> to purchased books

> 3. to provide freel live tutorial service for the

> person who needs more interaction for learning

> 4. to promote education as the BEST means of

> producing the BEST technicians

> 5. to promote pharmacy technician as a promising and

> fulfilling vocational career choice

> 6. to promote change in society and law to require

> pharmacy technician education

>

> ALL to ONE END: to PROTECT JOHN Q. PUBLIC.....

>

> so that YOU and I and our families can be safer when

> we get OUR prescriptions filled

>

> The later is something I have never posted! a bit

> selfish, but the main reason is to protect Q

> Public. NO matter I accept your kind words.

>

> You sir write as if you are already a pharmacist or

> doctor (anecdotal). So will you be going on to pharm

> school?

>

> Regarding your experience with your friend that is

> what you are basing it on, no matter how anecdotal

> it is still relevant to you. And I have this site

> and while we would love to say there are stats there

> are not stats! It too is anecdotal. But there are

> more such accounts than two. But there are only a

> few accounts since going on line. This is why I am

> beseeching others to PLEASE post their experiences,

> scores, background etc to gather more information

> that may help other so realize how long they will

> need to study, difficulty etc..

>

> So is it possible that there are really different

> tests being given out? What are your thoughts on

> this?

>

> Most respectfully,

> And again thank you for your feed back on the new

> re-organization.

>

> Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

> Pharm Tech Educator

> Founder/Ower of this site

>

>

>

> Liu <whysthis@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hey Jeanetta,

>

> You are right. My approximation of the exam

> categories is very similar to yours.

>

> When I was referring to the drug questions, I was

> talking about both trade/brand names and

> classifications and specifically drug-drug

> interactions. I had no problems with the other

> pharmacology questions, which were few and far in

> between. I did not know at least 60% of the drugs

> at

> appeared on the test despite knowing the top 100

> drugs, as I've said before. Half of the drug-drug

> interactions referred to drugs I was unfamiliar

> with.

> The other half were simple questions, such as the

> popular anti coagulant drug interactions. With the

> exception of one other dug, I knew none of the

> other trade/generic names.

>

> I'm sorry Jeanetta, but I do not recall any of the

> names of the drugs I did not know on the test. It

> is

> highly possible that they are hospital drugs since

> I

> am completely unfamiliar with those at all, as my

> experience is only in retail pharmacy.

>

> I understand why you would have said my experience

> and

> education could have allowed me to easily pass.

> However, I have trained several other techs over

> the

> years. The only one who actually took the exam

> passed

> with only 6 months of part time work and had just

> graduated from high school the same year. While I

> know she picked up more quickly than most other

> techs

> that I've trained, I do not believe that she

> studied

> from any sort of books at all. English was also

> her

> second language, as she had only moved to America 4

> years ago. This is obviously anecdotal evidence,

> but

> the only experiences I have to go on are hers and

> my

> own.

>

> Kerri has already answered the questions regarding

> being able to return to old questions. The testing

> options are as flexible and convenient as she

> stated.

> You are free to go back and forwards through any of

> the test questions as you please. You can also

> mark

> questions that you are unsure about. At the end of

> the test, there will be a review screen that

> displays

> all of the test question numbers and highlights the

> ones you indicated uncertainty. You are free to

> return to any question as you please. There is

> only

> one question on the screen at any given time.

>

> My scores were not good by this group's standards.

> As

> I recall, 800+ is a good score. Which goes to show

> all the experience and education does not really

> account for much if you don't study.

> Total: 717

> Assist Pharmacist in Serving Patients: 735

> Maintain Med. Inventory Control Systems: 687

> Admin. Mgmt. of Pharmacy Practice: 678

>

> I took a look at the group files again. They are

> very

> excellently organized. Had the site originally

> been

> like that, I probably would not have even boughten

> books. Great job, Jeanette. You really did go

> beyond

> my expectations. I thought you needed a complete

> website to organize the files, but I guess it just

> required some insight. Please continue to keep up

> the

> great work that you are doing, Jeanetta. There are

> very few people who would be committed to

> maintaining

> a project like this out of personal interest.

>

> Again, if you have any additional questions, I will

> try to answer them as I can.

>

> -

>

=== message truncated ===

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[Guest guest]

Dear ,

You are too kind!

First of all my comment to study more was directed to the those reading the post

and currently studying for the next exam open window. Sorry for that confusion.

But very glad to hear that your study will never stop! I am however saddened to

learn that after " trying out pharmacy " you have come to the decision it is not

for you. I do feel pharmacy and society will loose out on the benefit of having

a caring , very intelligent and capable person to help them with their

pharmaceutical care and needs. That being said may I suggest if you can handle

touching or face to face with patient, blood and guts that you consider:

PA Physician's Assistant or NP Nurse Practioner. Your excellent writing tells

me that you are up for a challenge such as this. If not you may consider

psychiatry or psychology, What else have you thought of doing in the health

care field? What ever you do society will be blessed by benefiting from your

involvement and contributions. Please keep us posted as to your professional

career path. Becoming a CPhT and working as a tech has helped you to 'rule out'

(R/O) that area of health care. But it may have also led you to understand

that there is an area for you and what that area is/may be. This is the bright

side.

How old are you may I ask? State?

I would have thought you would have liked hospital much better. I myself am

more of a hospital tech and lab rat. You on with more an

assessment, evaluative, intrinsic, introspective approach to topics that leads

me to think something such as a physician, radiologist, registered dietician,

psychologist, psychiatrist may be more along the lines that you would like to

do and on the very, but still in the realm of possibility/probability of

interest: outside research or clinical trials.

I think you need some patient interaction and a position of authority and making

decisions using judgment calls. Let me know what your plans are, and what the

future unfolds for you.

You are very correct the fact is with the high tech, any amount of tests can be

made in a split second, especially since PTCB NOW has such a large tested,

tried and true test bank. Unlike you I do believe that they DO have the

questions compartmentalized and that then can change at random and at will.

But since an outside company handles the testing aspect, I think that there is a

greater likelihood of a set number of various exams that would be rotated at

random for each person who is taking the exam on any given day at ONE location

and this is the same for each location. Not sure how clear this sounds to you.

I think PTCB DOES do the making of different exams, just as you outlined and

then distributes a " selected library " of those tests to be used throughout a

particular open window or year a or other time frame. But all of this is

guessing and fun speculation. I do hope one day PTCB will post answers to these

questions.

Looking forward to your input on other topics on this site.

Again thank you for your kind words.

Respectfully,

Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

Founder/Owner

Liu <whysthis@...> wrote: Hi Jeanetta,

Thanks for the comments on my score! Though I do not

believe posting my PTCB score was very revealing, as

the PTCB is merely Pass/Fail. There's simply not much

to hide. Also, the studying will never stop! It just

may not always be pharmacy related.

I have almost forgotten about the confidentiality

agreement when I took the test. Pretty similar to how

I have forgotten most of the questions on the exam

itself.

Your zeal does reveal itself in the way you handle

your e-mails, Jeanetta. I only wish my professors and

TA's had the same kind of attitude as you have towards

this group.

Thanks for the compliments, Jeanetta. While my

original intention was to go to pharmacy school, the

past two years pharmacy experience has revealed that I

really DO NOT want to spend the next 40+ years working

in retail pharmacy. The reason I finally took the

PTCB was to get an inpatient hospital job to see if I

would prefer hospital pharmacy. If worse comes to

worse, I will simply look elsewhere in the health care

field.

Considering the format of the PTCB is now

computerized, it is very easy to make almost every

single test unique. Even if there is a mistake in the

questions, they can simply be corrected and used again

the next day when the new versions of the tests are

downloaded. Assuming that every question is

categorized into one of three sections, in the same

vein as the PTCB scores are divided, they can randomly

select a third of the questions out of a pool of 500

questions for each category. By doing something as

simple as that, each test will be unique and unlikely

to be identical. However, I doubt this is the case.

I am trying to show that computerizing the tests does

make it far more likely that there are multiple

versions being given out each day due to the ease with

which it can be accomplished.

No problem Jeanetta, keep up the excellent work.

--- Jeanetta Mastron <rxjm2002@...> wrote:

> Dearest ,

>

> I think you did well. 800+ is a GREAT SCORE not just

> a good score, I had 5 yrs of experience and a 4 yr

> degree and got 859 ( 85 ... 6,8 or 9 I for get!)

> Any way you describe what I would expect for someone

> with your education and background and the amount of

> study you seem to have done/not done. So I would say

> you did GOOD at 717!

> My students usually get between 680 and 800. Most

> between 720 and 750 IF they have completed the two

> month on the job externship before they get the

> test. So you are not far off at all. Be PROUD I am

> for ya!

>

> Thank you for your post of your score. It is

> personal and you still did it and we are very

> pleased so that others can decide for themselves how

> easy it may be for them.

>

> I can only suggest MORE study!

>

> Regarding exact questions we can not discuss them

> any way. Just topics. I am sorry I was not asking

> you to post the exact drug names to see if they

> were hospital ones. What I was asking was for YOU to

> do a search yourself to see if they are in fact odd

> drugs because they were hospital and your

> experience is retail.

>

> I can not comment on any specifics that you have

> posted. Sorry to lead you to post them. I changed

> this post for ya here.

>

> You have been very kind with your compliments of the

> re-organization of the site. Now I need to do the

> link section and redo the automatic emails with the

> links to the folders and documents. As you may

> have read from a previous email or two that my

> rearrangement counter acted the use of the automatic

> email directions! But I am VERY glad to know it

> is much easier to navigate around and I trust your

> judgment.

>

> I do not know how to express the personal interest.

> But I can say it is a personal conviction I have a

> personal quest that I must search for the best

> educational material out there and put it all

> together for

> 1. the person studying who has little money to

> purchase study materials

> 2. the person who needs several examples in addition

> to purchased books

> 3. to provide freel live tutorial service for the

> person who needs more interaction for learning

> 4. to promote education as the BEST means of

> producing the BEST technicians

> 5. to promote pharmacy technician as a promising and

> fulfilling vocational career choice

> 6. to promote change in society and law to require

> pharmacy technician education

>

> ALL to ONE END: to PROTECT JOHN Q. PUBLIC.....

>

> so that YOU and I and our families can be safer when

> we get OUR prescriptions filled

>

> The later is something I have never posted! a bit

> selfish, but the main reason is to protect Q

> Public. NO matter I accept your kind words.

>

> You sir write as if you are already a pharmacist or

> doctor (anecdotal). So will you be going on to pharm

> school?

>

> Regarding your experience with your friend that is

> what you are basing it on, no matter how anecdotal

> it is still relevant to you. And I have this site

> and while we would love to say there are stats there

> are not stats! It too is anecdotal. But there are

> more such accounts than two. But there are only a

> few accounts since going on line. This is why I am

> beseeching others to PLEASE post their experiences,

> scores, background etc to gather more information

> that may help other so realize how long they will

> need to study, difficulty etc..

>

> So is it possible that there are really different

> tests being given out? What are your thoughts on

> this?

>

> Most respectfully,

> And again thank you for your feed back on the new

> re-organization.

>

> Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

> Pharm Tech Educator

> Founder/Ower of this site

>

>

>

> Liu <whysthis@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hey Jeanetta,

>

> You are right. My approximation of the exam

> categories is very similar to yours.

>

> When I was referring to the drug questions, I was

> talking about both trade/brand names and

> classifications and specifically drug-drug

> interactions. I had no problems with the other

> pharmacology questions, which were few and far in

> between. I did not know at least 60% of the drugs

> at

> appeared on the test despite knowing the top 100

> drugs, as I've said before. Half of the drug-drug

> interactions referred to drugs I was unfamiliar

> with.

> The other half were simple questions, such as the

> popular anti coagulant drug interactions. With the

> exception of one other dug, I knew none of the

> other trade/generic names.

>

> I'm sorry Jeanetta, but I do not recall any of the

> names of the drugs I did not know on the test. It

> is

> highly possible that they are hospital drugs since

> I

> am completely unfamiliar with those at all, as my

> experience is only in retail pharmacy.

>

> I understand why you would have said my experience

> and

> education could have allowed me to easily pass.

> However, I have trained several other techs over

> the

> years. The only one who actually took the exam

> passed

> with only 6 months of part time work and had just

> graduated from high school the same year. While I

> know she picked up more quickly than most other

> techs

> that I've trained, I do not believe that she

> studied

> from any sort of books at all. English was also

> her

> second language, as she had only moved to America 4

> years ago. This is obviously anecdotal evidence,

> but

> the only experiences I have to go on are hers and

> my

> own.

>

> Kerri has already answered the questions regarding

> being able to return to old questions. The testing

> options are as flexible and convenient as she

> stated.

> You are free to go back and forwards through any of

> the test questions as you please. You can also

> mark

> questions that you are unsure about. At the end of

> the test, there will be a review screen that

> displays

> all of the test question numbers and highlights the

> ones you indicated uncertainty. You are free to

> return to any question as you please. There is

> only

> one question on the screen at any given time.

>

> My scores were not good by this group's standards.

> As

> I recall, 800+ is a good score. Which goes to show

> all the experience and education does not really

> account for much if you don't study.

> Total: 717

> Assist Pharmacist in Serving Patients: 735

> Maintain Med. Inventory Control Systems: 687

> Admin. Mgmt. of Pharmacy Practice: 678

>

> I took a look at the group files again. They are

> very

> excellently organized. Had the site originally

> been

> like that, I probably would not have even boughten

> books. Great job, Jeanette. You really did go

> beyond

> my expectations. I thought you needed a complete

> website to organize the files, but I guess it just

> required some insight. Please continue to keep up

> the

> great work that you are doing, Jeanetta. There are

> very few people who would be committed to

> maintaining

> a project like this out of personal interest.

>

> Again, if you have any additional questions, I will

> try to answer them as I can.

>

> -

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________________

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know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

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